Texas Oil and Gas Attorney Comments on Recent Suit by Texans For Unpaid Royalties
Feb 7, 2013
Austin, TX (Law Firm Newswire) February 6, 2013 – Texas residents have filed suit, alleging they are owed hydrocarbon royalty payments.
Several Texas residents have filed a lawsuit against two companies alleging they were denied millions of dollars in royalty payments for hydrocarbons produced from a tract of land in Jefferson County, Texas.
“Title issues involving ownership of mineral rights and rights to royalty payments can be a complicated area of law. Disputes such as this one, involving the right to receive royalty payments, are not uncommon,” said Texas oil and gas attorney Gregory D. Jordan.
In the lawsuit, a half-dozen plaintiffs claim they are owed one-sixteenth of the revenue from oil produced by BP America Production Co. and Cimarex Energy, on land where the plaintiffs claim to own mineral rights. The suit was filed in Jefferson County Civil District Court in Beaumont, Texas.
The plaintiffs claim that under the 1933 deeds for the land, their predecessors were entitled to a one-sixteenth non-participating royalty interest in any oil produced from the property. According to the lawsuit, the deeds are still in effect and are now owned by the plaintiffs. Austin oil and gas attorney Jordan notes that “Interestingly, there are often circumstances through which royalty owners can recover payments that should have been made to them many years ago.”
The lawsuit states that Cimarex Energy has produced oil and gas from wells on property in which the plaintiffs have a royalty interest, that Cimarex and BP have made more than $100 million from the sale of oil produced from the lands, and that the companies have refused to pay the plaintiffs royalties, denying that any are owed.
The complaint alleges breach of contract against the defendants and asks the court to quiet title. The plaintiffs seek declaratory relief, damages within the jurisdictional limits of the court, interest and attorney’s fees. The case has been assigned to Judge Gary Sanderson of the 60th District Court.
BP, based in London, is the third-largest oil and gas company in the world, and the fourth-largest company of any kind. BP’s operations in the United States account for one-third of its business interests. Cimarex Energy is based in Denver.
The Law Offices of Gregory D. Jordan has handled many business and employment disputes involving non-compete agreements, unfair competition, confidentiality agreements and breaches of contract. To learn more visit, http://www.theaustintriallawyer.com.
Law Offices of Gregory D. Jordan
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